By Punch Editorial Board, July 22, 2026
THE renewed bloodshed in Benue and Plateau states has once again exposed the grave failure of government at all levels to guarantee the most fundamental constitutional right of Nigerians to life. The federal and state governments must put a stop to this vicious cycle of violence, displacement and grief.
At least 16 people were slaughtered by armed herders in the Nobi community of Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State.
According to residents, the attackers invaded the community between 3:30 am and 4:30 am on July 12, shooting indiscriminately and forcing terrified residents to flee. One grieving resident told The PUNCH that she lost her sister and two children in the attack, with their bodies deposited at the Otukpo General Hospital mortuary.
As expected, angry youths and women staged protests in Otukpo, blocking major roads, including the Enugu–Otukpo and Makurdi–Otukpo highways, while demanding urgent government intervention.
Governor Hyacinth Alia rightly condemned the attack as “not only a breach of peace but also a barbaric and inhuman assault on the sanctity of life and the collective soul of the people of Benue State.” Strong words, however, cannot substitute for decisive action.
Plateau State suffered a similarly horrific week. Indigenous youth groups reported more than 50 deaths across Bokkos, Riyom and Jos South Local Government Areas within a single week on the same weekend. In Bokkos, an overnight attack reportedly killed at least 25 persons, including children.
In Riyom, nine members of one family, including a two-month-old baby, were murdered in an ambush. In Jos South, the killing of two women in Gero community sparked protests by residents, while separate clashes in Tanjol left three herders dead and two others injured.
Frustrated by the persistent violence, residents and Christian leaders blocked roads in Jos to protest the worsening insecurity and repeated displacement of communities.
Sadly, these attacks are no longer isolated incidents. They have become recurring tragedies that expose glaring weaknesses in Nigeria’s security architecture.
Unfortunately, after armed assailants invade vulnerable communities, innocent people are slaughtered, government officials issue condemnations, security agencies promise investigations, and life returns to an uneasy normal until another attack occurs.
The scale of the carnage is deeply alarming. An investigation by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa estimated that terrorism-related violence claimed 79,323 lives between 2020 and 2025—an average of about 36 deaths every day. This is too high.
Amnesty International reported that between 2023 and the middle of 2025, suspected armed groups killed more than 6,800 people in Benue State and at least 2,600 in Plateau State alone. These are not mere statistics; they represent shattered families, orphaned children, widowed spouses and devastated communities.
The government looks on helplessly as non-state actors seize control from its agents.
During Easter, Fulani bandits took advantage of this in Rukuba, Jos, slaughtering about 29 people. President Bola Tinubu made a stopover at the Jos Airport but did not visit the scene of carnage, claiming blithely there was no electricity!
It is not clear if his intervention to deploy CCTV cameras has been implemented or it will ever materialise.
The drivers of the violence are well known. Desertification and prolonged drought in Nigeria’s far North have forced many nomadic pastoralists southwards in search of water and grazing land, intensifying competition over dwindling natural resources.
The Middle Belt has consequently become the epicentre of disputes between herders and farming communities over land ownership and access.
The conflict is further complicated by deep-seated ethnic, religious and political tensions. The region lies at the intersection of Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim North and largely Christian South, with violence often involving Fulani herders and indigenous farming communities such as the Tiv, Berom and Tarok.
These underlying challenges cannot justify the persistent failure of government to protect lives. Security is the primary responsibility of the state.
The crisis in the Middle Belt, a major food basket, has consistently fed into food inflation in recent months, with food prices rising faster than the CPI between April and June 2026.
Yet, despite repeated warnings, intelligence reports and previous attacks, vulnerable communities continue to be left exposed.
The inability to apprehend and successfully prosecute perpetrators has fostered a dangerous climate of impunity that emboldens criminal elements. Security agencies should strengthen intelligence gathering, deploy rapid-response units to identified flashpoints and ensure sustained rather than reactive operations.
Perpetrators and their sponsors must be arrested and prosecuted without fear or favour.
Simultaneously, governments should address the structural drivers of the crisis through improved land management, ranching policies, climate adaptation measures, dialogue among affected communities and prompt compensation and rehabilitation for victims.